William Hasley, the 78-year-old Hollywood screenwriter who ghostwrote Caitlyn Jenner's 1996 self-help book, was found dead near Los Angeles's Runyon Canyon trail last Saturday evening. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office has not released a cause of death, and authorities have deferred any official determination, leaving a neighbor, friends, and the entertainment community with questions and no answers.
The Los Angeles Fire Department reported that Hasley was located in an area near Runyon Canyon at about 7:05 p.m. on Saturday. Air rescuers responded and lowered personnel to reach him. Medical treatment was administered on scene, but it was not enough.
Officials pronounced Hasley dead at the scene. How he died remains unclear.
Hasley spent decades working in Hollywood, though his name rarely appeared above the title. He wrote screenplays for Universal Pictures, Warner Brothers, and 20th Century Fox. His television credits, as the New York Post reported, included "Murder, She Wrote," "Highway to Heaven," and "Swift Justice", shows that defined an era of network television.
At UCLA, Hasley taught screenwriting. His course description promised to help students "develop your own distinct style into a concise and creative screenplay for today's ever-changing marketplace." He was, by every available account, a working professional in an industry that chews through talent without much ceremony.
But the project that tied Hasley's name to celebrity culture was "Finding the Champion Within," the Simon & Schuster book he penned for Jenner. The 1996 self-help title aimed to use a 10-step program to "reboot" readers' lives. Hasley described in his biography how he and Jenner became "fast friends" while he was working on an Olympics-related project, before Jenner commissioned him to write the book.
Hasley was also the former husband of actress Robin Riker, who became a star on the Showtime sitcom "Brothers" as Kelly Hall in the 1980s. Riker went on to become a television regular for the next decade, with a notable credit on "The Bold and the Beautiful" as Beth Logan.
Hasley lived near Runyon Canyon, close enough that a neighbor saw him that same Saturday, hours before he was found dead. The neighbor's words to the Post were plain and grim:
"I just saw him on Saturday carrying groceries. It's very sad he had to die all alone like that."
Temperatures in the Los Angeles area were cool that evening, in the mid-to-low 60s. It was not the kind of punishing heat that sometimes claims hikers on Southern California trails. What happened to Hasley between the time he was spotted with groceries and the time rescuers reached him at 7:05 p.m. remains a gap that investigators have not publicly filled.
Cases involving bodies discovered under uncertain circumstances are not uncommon, as a recent grim discovery in a Bronx apartment reminded New Yorkers, but each one leaves behind people who want to know what happened and when.
The Medical Examiner's Office has offered no cause of death and is deferring any official determination. That is not unusual in the early stages of an investigation, but it means the public narrative around Hasley's death is incomplete.
It is not clear from available official statements who initially identified Hasley as the hiker found near the trail. The California Post reached out to representatives for Jenner and to UCLA for comment; neither response has been reported.
An LAFD spokesperson described the rescue effort in clinical terms:
"LAFD Air Operations lowered rescuers to the patient, and medical treatment was administered."
That treatment failed. What led Hasley to the trail that evening, and what condition he was in when rescuers arrived, has not been disclosed. Investigators who work to identify and explain unexplained deaths know that these early silences sometimes stretch for weeks or longer.
Hasley's career placed him alongside famous names, Jenner, major studios, network television, but always in a supporting role. Ghostwriters and screenwriters-for-hire do the work that puts other people's names in lights. It is an honest living, and often an anonymous one.
His death near one of Los Angeles's most popular hiking destinations drew attention largely because of his connection to Jenner. Without that link, the story of a 78-year-old man found dead on a trail might have passed with little notice. That says something about how celebrity culture operates, and about how easily a life of genuine accomplishment can be reduced to a footnote in someone else's story.
Runyon Canyon draws thousands of hikers each week. It is a place where Angelenos go to exercise, walk their dogs, and take in views of the city. It is also rugged terrain, and not every stretch of it is easily accessible, a fact underscored by the need for LAFD air rescuers to lower personnel to Hasley's location.
The circumstances recall how quickly an ordinary day can turn. Discoveries that upend assumptions, whether a missing person found alive decades later or a neighbor spotted carrying groceries who never comes home, remind us that the line between routine and tragedy is thinner than most people care to admit.
For now, the facts are sparse. A 78-year-old man with a long career in Hollywood was found dead near a popular Los Angeles trail. Rescuers tried and failed. The Medical Examiner has not said why he died. A neighbor grieves. And the people who knew William Hasley are left waiting for answers that may be slow in coming.
A man who spent his career giving voice to other people's stories deserved better than to have his own end in silence.
